Golf practice device



March 26, E SHAplRO GOLF PRACTICE DEVICE F'jz Filed June 28, 1954 y wavy/4 lA/E15 OF coNv-QAST coLoQ ff j 1 Ezggene wggo BY aw M MW I JTORNEY GOLF PRACTICE DEVICE Eugene Shapiro, Washington, D- C- Application June 28, 1954, Serial No. 439,536

2 Claims. (Cl. 273-183) This invention pertains to golf practice devices or accessories, and more particularly to an improved form of golf practice mat in combination with a tee or ball support, to enable practice shots to be made without damaging rugs or oors indoors, or the sod or club when used out of doors.

Practice mats for golf strokes are not unknown; bristle or so-called cocoa mats, such as are used for door mats, have been employed to provide a well-defined surface for the ball and to protect both the underlying surface and the club against damage. However, such mats wear out very rapidly under repeated use, and they have a purely protective function without any instructive feature whlch will enable the user systematically to improve his shots or strokes.

The present invention provides a practice mat of* this general type which can be used indoors, for practicing chip or pitch shots, or outdoors for harder strokes such as drives. It provides an extremely rugged and longlasting surface so constructed as to cooperate in a novel way with a tripod form of tee or ball support, and is also provided with guide lines formed integral with the mat itself to direct the user in the proper swing direction for making certain shots, and to give him a visual indication of errors in his stroke.

The above and other advantages of the invention will best be understood by referring now to the accompanying drawings, showing 'a preferred embodiment of the invention, which will be described below in detail. In the drawings,

Fig. l is a partial plan view of the improved mat itself, only a representative portion thereof being shown,

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view, to a larger scale, of a part of the mat of Fig. l, Iand illustrating a tee and a practice ball in preferred position thereon, and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the novel combination in actual use.

As shown in Figs. l and 2, the mat is generally designated by reference numeral 10, and is provided with a base portion 12 having its entire upper surface provided with upstanding flexible protuberances 14. Preferably, the base portion and the protuberances are formed by a single molding operation as an integral structure, preferably of relatively soft and flexible rubber, rubber compound or equivalent plastic material. The thickness of the base portion may be of the order of Vs of an inch, and the protuberances preferably extend to a height of about 2%; of an inch above the base. The number of protuberances per square inch may be varied somewhat, but I prefer to provide about six per lineal inch, or 36 of these per square inch of mat surface. The protuberances are so shaped that their bases come close to one another, but do not actually touch, leaving `space between the bottoms thereof for the reception of the legs of a tee. The material and shape is so chosen that the protuberances are quite ilexible at their tips, so that when struck by a club, they deflect and rebound without damage. They may thus be thinned down Iat their upper ends, rather than being ited States Patent O Patented Mar. 26, ,1957

Ice 2,786,683

2 conical as shown in Pig. v2; however, the conical fOr-m iS also quite practical. yOne cnr-ner of 'Fia- 1 shows the .surtalee as it would appear through a magnifying glass.

.AS indicated at numeral 16 in Figs. 1 and 3, one or more Arows of the protuberances, preferably extending .lengthwise of the metJ 'are made of a .contrasting Color, either in the molding operation or by' coloring these after molding. Thus, .it the mat is made of a green materialJ which .iS .Preferred, the selected rows ,16 may bef-white, to. define one or more white guide lines extending across the mat.

Fig. 2 of the drawings also illustrates the way in which this novel mat cooperates with a known form of threelegged tee or ball support, designated 18. The latter has an annular top support portion 20 and three depending legs 22 spaced 120 degrees from one a-nother about the periphery of the top 20. The legs curve downwardly, as shown, and are received in wedged but removable fashion between adjacent ones of the protuberances 14 to secure the tee in any desired position on the surface. The tapered shape of the protuberances provides ample strength at their connection to the base of the mat, and proper clearance to receive the somewhat bowed or inclined legs of the tee so that it can stand in firmly levelled condition. Specifically, the tee may be placed in centered position over one of the guide lines 16, and the user will then be able to see immediately whether he is stroking the ball in the proper straight-line direction for full iron or wood shots. The guide serve-s the same purpose, when the tee is not employed, for instance in practicing chip and pitching shots. Sin-ce the tee can readily be moved about over the mat when desired, the wear can be distributed more or less evenly, and the mat will have a long useful life. When a stroke is so low that the tee is engaged by the club, the resistance to its movement provided by the protuberances prevents it from being driven away and lost. At the same time, damage to the underlying oor or sod, and to the club itself, is prevented.

The ball 24 shown in Fig. 2 is of the practice variety, being thin and hollow with numerous perforations to increase its air resistance for practice purposes. However, the ball may be of standard weight and form, especially for outdoor use on the harder strokes.

I contemplate use of the device as illustrated in Fig. 3, with the balls being directed into a bucket or the like for practice in directional control, or for scoring when a competitive game is being played. The mat, tee, rigid or collapsible bucket and balls may well be packaged for sale as a single merchandising unit, golf game or the like. The player in Fig. 3 has a driving stance merely to illustrate the Variety of application of the invention.

The underside of the mat base 12 may be plain and llat, or it may be provided with a non-skid pattern such as a wafflle pattern, ribs or the like. When not in use, the liexible nature of the mat material permits it to be rolled up and stowed in any convenient place. Preferably, the mat will be about l6 by 22 inches in plan dimensions, but the size is obviously not a critical matter.

The invention provides at low cost a sturdy and convenient golf mat and tee arrangement providing proper support for the tee and adequate protection for the club and door, of simple and economical construction. Ob-

vious variations of details of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit thereof as defined in the appended claims.

, I claim:

1. In a golf practice device, in combination, a mat having a base portion and a plurality of closely spaced ilexible protuberances extending upward from and secured to said base portion and defining a regular pattern over the surface Vof said mat, the spacing of adjacent protuberances being substantially less than their heights, and a golf ball tee having a support portion and a plurality of depending flexible legs supporting the same upon the base portion y of said mat, the location and spacing of the legs on said tee with respect to the location and spacing of the protuberances on said mat being such that the legs enter between said protuberances without distortion of said legs and are secured against lateral motion by adjacent protuberances, the lengths of said legs being related to the heights of said protuberances so `as to elevate the support portion of said tee above the tops of said protuberances.

2. The combination of claim 1, in which selected protuberances lying along a straight line are colored to contrast with the color of the surrounding protuberances, to define an aiming line 'across said mat.

References Cited in the le 'of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Mayall Dec. 24, 1861 Stedman May 10, 1910 Wiley Sept. 7, 1926 Gauntlett Aug. 21, 1934 Hempel Dec. 29, 1936 Armstrong Setp. 23, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain 1923 

